Young Writers Society

I cam here for help with my writing. I have trouble spelling. I thought this website would help me with that. However, everyone just jugds me by that problem. It is like a girl who is everyone thinks she cannot swim just because her legs were amputated.However she proves everyone wrong by winning a gold medal in a swim competition against un-handicaped kids. Look at it this way, spelling is what holds the story or article up, like legs a human. However, your arms, body and head is what is the importent stuff. Please, just not judge me by me speeling problem, just help me.

THe reason I wrote this is because well i love to write but everyone is judging me by my speling and not by the criteria of the story. I am close to giving upm alltogether my passion of writing and slink back to my bedroom cave with its storage of books and the door flap for food. I have no life except for writing and reading, and if you take away writing their will be no reason for me to live except to read, which is useless!

Weird, I cannot spell worth a crap but everyone who reads it ignores it. And for the love of god don't stop writing, if you're like me in this area you would die. Don't die. What I did with the spelling issue was... oh yeah I used the spell check, which helps immensely in the critiquing part of this. People do tend to just point out the gramitical errors instead of the actual stories and such. It bugs me too.

Ok well. I understand where you are coming from but really, i don't think the others are CRITISIZING, they're just trying to help you out and liike, point out what you need to fix. They're trying to HELP you not HURT you. Am I right? Um, the only other thing is that REDAING IS NOT USELESS!!! Don't say that. Reading helps a lot with spelling, grammer, etc. I understnd where you're coming from, but maybe you should talk to the people about it. You don't by any means have to take my advice, but that's just what I think.

lol i completly understand. i have a little bit of that problem plu everyone is on my back for grammar, so i know what you feel like. whenever you post, do spellcheck, and that catches quite a bit. I hate doing htat, especially when my post is long, but it helps. a lot.

good luck on your writing!

You... Could just use spell check? There are online spell checkers out there. Or online dictionaries, to help you look up the word.

This doesn't really go in literary...but I don't really know where it goes so I'll just put it in 'randomness'...

EDIT: I thought I'd say more..

I used to be really bad at spelling, as well, but believe it or not, spell check has actually helped me. There are certain words I'd always spell wrong, but seeing that I got them wrong, then fixing them, I'd eventually remember the spelling. Sure, I still spell things wrong, but that is why I still use spell check.

And you might say, "Why can't they just look at my story? Why do they look at the spelling/grammar/big block of text that you didn't put paragraphs in?" (Just giving overall examples.) but it does matter. No one wants to read a story that has bad spelling or grammar, it makes it hard to read, and it takes your mind off of the story, and you look at it and all you think is 'they spelled that word wrong...and that word...and they used the wrong 'their/there/they're' there...' Get it? You gave a nice analogy, so I'll give one too. If you are watching a choir concert, and every singer but one is perfectly still. There is just that one kid swaying back and forth...you can't stop looking at that kid to listen to the music. Your poor spelling, or what ever you struggle with, is that one kid rocking back and forth.

You'll get better with time, but don't say, "I'm going to quit!" That's stupid. Just use spell check, or learn how to spell better.

Hey DragonWriter!

Every writer has a part of their writing that they know they need work on. I understand it can be discouraging to be judged on those flaws, but as a writer's community, we are striving to help people salvage those flaws and improve. Sometimes the most helpful hints are hints that pertain to your specific downfall because they encourage you to excel in that area. For instance, my pitfall is wordiness and the overusage of adjectives; I often get responses about cutting down on adjectives, and it can be discouraging, but I know those who comment are only trying to help me improve and remind me to watch for that pitfall.

I know it can be hard to take criticism on parts of your writing you know you need to work on, but instead of seeing those criticisms as judgments, try viewing them as what they are - hints on how to improve. And spelling can be a very simple thing to fix. Pasting your writing into a word document and running a spell check would greatly help that. It is hard for a critiquer to see past basic errors like spelling and comment on other elements of the story, so doing that would improve your chances of getting different types of critiques.

Best of luck writing!

Hi Dragon.
It's basically like Claudette said- the lone singer is the one you focus on.

Also, as a13 pointed out, if you're giving up because some people pointed out errors, that's just stupid.

My motto on the subject is "if it doesn't kill it, it'll make it stronger" - "it" being the story in question. It's hard to really improve when there's nobody to point out your mistakes.

A while ago I looked at some Japanese script out of a language book and "memorized" them - meaning I got the basic shape- and started practicing them. As the symbols progressed down the messy page I dug up, I realized that as I continued to write the kana, I was deviating more, putting this dash farther up, etc., until the kana in the book barely resembled my chicken-scratchings.

It's the same with writing- we need others' criticism to keep us in order.

So, instead of viewing our reviews as personal insults/judgements, (sp) please try to look at it logically, and take the advice offered. Even if it hurts now, you'll be stronger and better equipped later

Oh, and I beg your pardon if I seemed harsh on that Elf thing. It was my opinion on your story, not you.

Gambatte!

I'd like to say much more than what follows, but that'd be redundant.

So I'll say it anyway!

Don't give up. Your spelling will improve over time (trust me, I couldn't spell worth lima beans, spent a few years writing, and won my school's spelling bee three years straight and the district's spelling bee I could have gone farther in the Regional competition, but the pronouncer sucked and garbled words [/ramble]) and then it'll be easier to analyse your work and improve on other flaws. If you try to fix all flaws at once, it becomes too overloaded and complicated and you go kaplooey and end up a blob of Jell-O on your bedroom floor and your cat eats you for a snack. True story.

Anyway, start by fixing the small, easy-to-do stuff like spelling and grammar. That's trivial stuff that's nothing on you or your writing skills, but it goes a really long way. Then you- and everyone else on the site, from the reader's POV- can focus on really fixing up your work.

And NEVER, EVER, EVER even THINK about giving up! We all have to start somewhere, we all experience our ups and downs. It is NOT a reason to give up. Imagine when you've got a good piece sitting in front of you in a manilla envelope in manuscript form, it's the best bloody thing you've ever written, and you send it off to a huge publisher in New York. Six weeks later you get an envelope from Huge Book Publishing, Inc. in New York, New York; it's official, you're practically screaming with glee, there's a giant Chinese firecracker inside your stomach, and you just can't wait to open it and read about how much they absolutely loved your manuscript. But it's a rejection letter! Oh no! =O

Would you give up that easily? I think not! If it's a true passion, you'll weather the ups and downs and come out bigger, better, stronger, and not a puddle of Jell-O for the cat. If the amputee swimmer gave up because of how people reacted to her, then would she have ever proven them wrong? Every author goes through his or her problems, whether small like spelling or big like a rejection letter. The trick is to hold fast and take the good with the bad. It's like Jimmy Buffett's song "Breathe in, Breathe out, Move On" goes: "If a hurricane doesn't leave you dead/It will make you strong."

So hold tight to your passions, your dreams, etc. and work through the tough spots and enjoy the good times. <3

-St. Razorblade

Man, I just spent 15 points on my pep talk of the year. =/
And now I'm spending 15 more because I realised the irony of it a bit too late.

Dont ever give up on your dreams, something that brings you joy. Only you live your life, no one else does, Yes they should have their own . Do what makes you happy.
Keep writing, sometimes critics can help, but take the advice from the positive ones.
I for one love to read, i read better then i write, reading takes me places i can not go to. Its like a journey. Writers are important in this world, you give us adventures, make us sad and happy, take us on trips. So dont give up, in time you will find you make less mistakes.
which by the way i made quite a few just writing this , so dont feel lonely, i am with you.

I'm sure the girl who had no legs worked hard all the time to prove everyone else wrong, maybe you just have to do the same (note that I am not saying you don't work hard).

uh... spell check? Firefox has one built in.

Okay, first of all, NO ONE can take away your writing. If you want to write, then write, it doesn't matter what anyone else says. Second of all, this is not a big deal. It's just spelling. Just spelling. All you need to do is press "Spell Check". Just one little button that's even available on the tool bar when you're posting a message on here. And to fix it so you don't misspell anymore, just go through and make a list of all the words you misspell, and then go to a dictionary or something and memorize how to spell them the right way. Again, it is NOT a big deal.

-Tony

Then do it. Who's going to stop you? Stop writing, and take a long vacation from it because it sounds like you need it. In fact I just came back from a six month vaca. I wrote little to nothing.

As for you, decisions are subjective but I suggest that you do go on vacation for two important reasons. One, during this "free" time, it allows your brain to take a nice, leisurely break - you can relax. We all need this from time to time because eventually you will get burnt out, especially if your work is has so many layers, and it's been a work-in-progress for a couple of years (I'm speaking about myself. I write historical-fiction now.), your brain will start to revolt against you. Two, and this is most important so pay attention, Missy. Two, during a vacation from writing, you will eventually come to the realization if this is a passion or just a fling - a hobby because the two words are very much different. Let me explain. A passion is something a person loves; they hold it dear and will refuse to let it go. A hobby is nothing more than that - a hobby. Hobbies come and go; they are NEVER consistent, a passion is.

If writing is truly a passion for you, then I suggest you suck it up! If you cannot handle editing with spelling, how on Earth are you able to cope with someone (me or others) coming along an giving you a full length editing job - AKA tearing your story apart???

When it comes down to it, cry me a river because I'm not buying this rather pathetic attitude. Accept the fact that you will have many failures, and you will have to always overcome them and find a solution into improving. If this is out of your jurisdiction - then I'm sorry to say but perhaps writing may not be for you. Writers are supposed, in my opinion, be able to accept crits, no matter if they are harsh, learn from them, and learn to improve.

G'Day.

^ agreeing with fishr- excellent speech.

Did you know that Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times while making the incandescent light bulb and when asked about it he said, "I didn't fail. I found out 2,000 ways not to make a light bulb but I only needed to find one way to make it work."

Thank ye.

It really had to be said or something similar. Melodramtics do not fly with me. I have dealt with them far too many times with various occasions or what have you. Basically, you will not score points with me in any manner such as this.